1. You're browsing the web. You don't use tabs. You're not the multitask, new generation, modern teen. And for some unexplained reason, your powerful, macho, new computer is lagging. You're not playing. No downloads. Is it sick? Maybe it had unsafe sex with a freeware, file sharing software and got infected with spyware...

2. What are the symptoms? High CPU activity, disk usage, and network traffic not justified by the user's activity. Frequent stability, application and internet connection issues. Does your computer suffer from any of these symptoms?

3. What is adware? What is spyware? Adware is software that displays advertisement on your pc. Spyware is software that sends information from your pc to a third party without your knowledge and explicit consent.

4. How does adware and spyware get installed into your computer?

(a) Have you ever browsed a website and a windows dialog box pops up asking you a question? Have you ever clicked the cancel button? Well thats how someone can trick you into installing adware and spyware into your computer. (b) Have you ever downloaded freeware? Marketing companies pay freeware software authors to include adware and spyware in their freeware software. So when you install freeware software, youre probably installing adware and spyware.

5. What can adware and spyware do to harm you? Adware just displays advertisement on your pc. Most adware software is also spyware software. Beside dispaying advertisement, it tracks your browsing habits and sends that data to a marketing company, so that the marketing company can display targeted ads on your computer, based on your tracked consumer activity. But it can also send your username, passwords, credit card information and other sensitive data to a third party

6. How can I prevent installing or remove adware and spyware?

(a) Install Anti-Spyware software. Ad-ware from Lavasoft and Spybot are great tools. They remove spyware and prevent spyware from installing on your computer. Google these keywords, download the free versions of these programs and always update them.

(b) Make sure that the freeware and shareware software you install does not include adware and spyware. Read the license agreement carefully. Search Google Groups for the name of the program plus the keywords adware and spyware.

(c) Install a pop-up blocker